Split Fl's delegates between Obama and Clinton?

[wrobert]

Dems seem to want to continue to ignore the wishes of the voters of Florida.

From tampabay.com

Here's a new scenario some leaders of the Democratic National Committee have been talking about lately: the DNC's credentials committee this summer could decide to split Florida's delegates evenly between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton...Splitting the delegates evenly would effectively ignore the Jan. 29 vote, but it would also ensure neither side would have an incentive to fight the seating of Florida's delegates, because those delegates would not give either side a leg up in a close delegate contest.
"The credentials committee can recommend to reinstate the delegates and the means by which to determine the that allocation," said DNC communications director Karen Finney.
More here. (http://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/10/State/Primary_s_done_how_ab.shtml)

[rapunzel]

I don't think the DNC wants to ignore the wishes of the voters of Florida at all, and that is why they proposed and offered to pay for a caucus to be held in Florida. Perhaps one could make the argument that the Florida Democratic Party wishes to ignore the wishes of Florida Democrats, but not the DNC.

The DNC has rules, and there are good reasons for the rules. If they did not put ground rules on when a primary could be held, then we would end up with a system where only people with lots of funding had a shot, which would not be very democratic. Florida's Democratic Party chose to ignore the rules. They weren't having a media blitz assuring everyone they would fight to have the delegates seated and encouraging Democrats to vote. They had no statewide GOTV effort, although they did have a GOTV effort among senior citizens in South Florida, apparently.

The results from the Florida primary are not a valid reflection of Florida voters' wishes. There was no campaign. Voters were told their vote wouldn't count. This would qualify as voter suppression by any definition of the term. We all know people who didn't bother to research the candidates in depth to decide who to support. We all know people who didn't bother to go to the polls. We all know there was a property tax amendment on the ballot that brought people out in huge numbers. In fact, the cynical side of me now wonders if that amendment weren't just slopped together and put on the ballot to try to give some legitimacy to the election since both parties stripped delegates from the state?

So, the election cannot be considered valid and I agree that splitting the delegates is a cop out. Why is the leadership of the Florida Democratic Party so reluctant to hold a caucus and energize their base?

Write slyon@fladems.com and cc email@fladems.com to let them know you want a valid caucus and full and fair representation at the convention this August.

[wrobert]

I don't think the DNC wants to ignore the wishes of the voters of Florida at all, and that is why they proposed and offered to pay for a caucus to be held in Florida. Perhaps one could make the argument that the Florida Democratic Party wishes to ignore the wishes of Florida Democrats, but not the DNC.

The DNC has rules, and there are good reasons for the rules. If they did not put ground rules on when a primary could be held, then we would end up with a system where only people with lots of funding had a shot, which would not be very democratic. Florida's Democratic Party chose to ignore the rules. They weren't having a media blitz assuring everyone they would fight to have the delegates seated and encouraging Democrats to vote. They had no statewide GOTV effort, although they did have a GOTV effort among senior citizens in South Florida, apparently.

The results from the Florida primary are not a valid reflection of Florida voters' wishes. There was no campaign. Voters were told their vote wouldn't count. This would qualify as voter suppression by any definition of the term. We all know people who didn't bother to research the candidates in depth to decide who to support. We all know people who didn't bother to go to the polls. We all know there was a property tax amendment on the ballot that brought people out in huge numbers. In fact, the cynical side of me now wonders if that amendment weren't just slopped together and put on the ballot to try to give some legitimacy to the election since both parties stripped delegates from the state?

So, the election cannot be considered valid and I agree that splitting the delegates is a cop out. Why is the leadership of the Florida Democratic Party so reluctant to hold a caucus and energize their base?

Write slyon@fladems.com and cc email@fladems.com to let them know you want a valid caucus and full and fair representation at the convention this August.


I guess we could argue this until 2012 and not agree. We had an election. Rather the delegates counted or not at the time does not really matter. The candidates could have still campaigned here. They came and raised money here. But the whole thing really helped them. Florida is one of the most expensive media markets in the country. By hiding behind the delegate thing they get to save their dollars. Go run the campaigns in other states and then try to use that momentum to win here the second time around. I sort of see where Thurman is coming from. A caucus is going to be a mess, especially if it does not come out the same as the first time. And based on the momentum I doubt it will. The Republicans will have a field day with this. I do not see a solution for the Dems in regards to Florida where they can get good press.

This sort of thing is what I keep referring too. LeMieux and Crist orchestrated this whole debacle and it appears it is going to keep things stirred up in Florida for months. No wonder the RPOF is hiring LeMieux as its new consultant. This guy is a genius.

All of this is going to make the Clintons desperate for a win. I do not think any of us can imagine the depths that the Clintons will go through to win this thing.

Of course Obama may take pundit Tuesday and Hillary would concede and get behind him for President. :floor:

Now what about those 700+ super delegates that can vote any way they want no matter what the people say?